Shipping Magnate George Economou Buys the Art of the Rotting '20s

A conversation with the DryShips CEO as a Russian museum shows works he owns by German expressionists

June 21, 2013 10:40 p.m. ET

Greek shipping magnate George Economou considers himself "a very happy person—alive and vivid." Yet one of his main artistic focuses is the grim European period between the two world wars. "In American homes, you see these photos of babies being perfect and smiling like in advertisements," says the 60-year-old. "Here is a baby that's in agony," he adds, referring to "Ursus in Swaddling Clothes," a 1927 watercolor and pencil on board by Otto Dix that he bought at auction last May for about...